Corset



2 sneew-sheetz.

(No ModelQ) B. VIAU.

CORSET.

No. 432,171. Patented July 15, 1890.

M vcni -ar- I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN VIAU, OF NEYV ARK, NEW JERSEY.

CORESET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 432,171, dated July 15, 1890.

Application filed March 17, 1890.

the swell of the bust portion, (to which the To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN VIAU, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, Essex county, New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Corsets, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

The object of this invention is to sustain a ladys dress in the desired form over the upper part of the chest, to which the corset does not usually extend.

The invention is adapted for use as a modification of the ordinary corsets which are sustained upon the hips; or it may be used in a special form of corset supported by the bust only. In either case the structure is provided with tongues projected upwardly at each side of a neck-opening to support the dress between the bust and the shoulders, and has stiffening-ribs or stiffening material extended from the bust into such tongues to hold them in shape. To hold the bust portion of the corset in shape it is provided internally with straps extended across the swell of the bust, and the corset-busks, or the middle portion of the corset, are extended upwardly above the bust toward the neck, to support the dress between such tongues.

The invention is illustrated in connection with a hip-corset, and also in a new form which I call a chest-corset.

The invention will be understood by reference to the annexed drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of my chestcorset. Fig.2 is a side elevation of the same with the addition of a girdle and shoulderstraps. Fig. 3 is an inside View of one-half of the corset in the same position as in Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a rear view of the corset with the girdle and shoulder-straps. Fig. 5 is a front view, and Fig. 6 a side view, of a hipcorset provided with my improvement.

In Figs. 1 to 4 I have designated by the letter a the part which is fitted upon the bust, such part being extended downwardly to a flexible band Z, which is adapted to span the front half of the waist. In these figures the bust portion extends upward in the middle to an opening 0 to expose the neck of the wearer, and such middle portion is shown in the drawings extended considerably above Serial No. 344,249. (No model.)

letter a is applied,) so as to support the front of the dress between the tongues. The tongues 12 are projected upwardly from the bust portion at opposite sides of the neck-opening to support the dress between the bust and the shoulders. WVhalebones or ribs (1 are shown extended from the bottom of the bust portion upwardly to the neck-opening and ribs (1 from the bust portion up into the tongues 11. The bust portion is formed with wings 'i, which extend backward beneath arm-openings 71'), formed at the rear sides of the tongues b, andribs d are inserted in the bust portion adjacent to the armholes to stiffen such portion. The ribs thus far described run substantially up and down in the structure; but

transverse ribs 6 are also shown in Fig. 4. of the drawings extended nearly across the front of each half of the bust portion to stiifen the same laterally.

Internal straps f are shown in Figs. 3 and 4 extended vertically across the swell of the bust near the middle line to maintain the required convex profile. Straps of similar character may also be extended across the swell of the bust transversely-that is, from end to end of the ribs eif required. The straps would not interfere witlrt-he figure of the wearer, as they would not be required to hold the chest-corset in shape if the wearers fig ure were full enough to interfere with the straps.

The corset is shown divided at the middle and provided with three hooks and eyes 1), and when thus divided the chest-corset would be used with a girdle h and shoulder-straps g, adapted to extend over the shoulders for connection with the girdle.

To hold the wings 2' back under the ar1ns,a back'strap 'm is shown extended between the tops of the wings, and the rear ends of the shoulder-straps are shown connected to the same and to the girdle by a vertical strip a. WVith this construction the chest-corset would be applied like an ordinary front-opened waist, and would be fastened in front by securing the hooks and eyes; but the corset may be made without any division in front and the girdle and other fastenings may be secured in the back, or the corset may be held in place solely by the dress fitting over it.

The bandl is not at all essential, but is provided to draw the bottom of the chest-corset into close contact with the figure, the gir dle and shoulder-straps or other back fastenings being preferably made elastic for the same purpose.

When the corset is upon the wearer, the outer and inner edges of the tongue I), which are preferably unprovided with any ribs (1, would bend freely to fit the shoulders and the neck, and thus efface the upper termination of the corset.

The chest-corset is adapted for sale and use to be applied over the ordinary hip-corsets or for use by itself, and imparts the same perfection of form to the upper part of the figure as the ordinary corset imparts to the waist.

The straps f are made of tape or other yielding material, so as to yield somewhat if pressed by the figure, and they are secured at their ends by sewing, so that their adjustment may be changed by the user to modify the shape of the corset. The chest-corset is thus adapted, as also by its general flexibility and elasticity, to fit figures of somewhat different sizes.

In the hip-corset shown in Figs. 5 and 6 the abdominal portion of the corset is lettered D, the waist portion H, and the bust portion a, as in'the other figures. The tongues b are shown extended upward from the bust portion, and the front 0 of the corset is extended upward toward the neck above the point where the corset-husk O ordinarily terminates as far as may be desired. The ribs d, d, and d are shown in the same relation to the bust, the tongues, and the armholes as in the chest-corset, butare extended downward into the corset to the bottom of the same. 1

As shown in Fig. 6, the back of the corset is terminated at the height common in hipcorsets under the arm, While the front per forms a novel function, with the aid of the tongues 11 and the extension C, in supporting the entire front of the dress, as desired. The chest-corset is provided with the same extension above the bust-line; but the tongues b and the straps f may be employed in a construction without such extension.

In the drawings the joints between the several pieces which are commonly sewed together to form a corset are omitted, as it is immaterial to my invention where such joints be made, or what method be employed to give the structure the desired shape.

I am aware that tongues analogous to mine have been projected upward toward the shoulders from the bust portion of the corset; but

without the internal straps extended across the swell of the bust it is obvious that the contour of the corset at the bust could not be controlled, and that the degree of convexity could not be varied to suit different figures, as it can with the construction I have shown, in which the straps f may be tightened to just the degree that is required to hold the bust portion in the desired shape. By applying the straps vertically theyrco-operate simultaneously with the tongues and with the bust portion of the corset, throwing the tongues backward at the same time that they throw the bust forward. This function can only be efiected by tongues arranged vertically, as in my invention. Such vertical tongues are therefore essential in the construction shown in Fig. 6, and would be applied within the bust portion of the corset in the same manner as shown in Figs. 3 and 4:.

What I claim as my invention is 1. A corset provided with the tongues b, projected upwardly from the bust toward the shoulders and having the stiffeners cl extended from the bust into such tongues, the bust portion being provided internally with the vertical straps f, extended across the-bust and operating to draw the tongues backward and project the bust forward, and the middle of the corset between the tongues being extended above the bust toward the neck to support the dress between the tongues, substantially as herein set forth.

2. The chest-corset fitted to the front of the figure only and provided with the bust portion at, having the upwardly-projecting tongues 19, with ribs d extended from the bust into such tongues, the internal straps f, stretched verticall across the bust and the middle of the corset being extended above the bust toward the neck to support the dress between the tongues, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The chest-corset fittedto the front of the figure only and provided with the bust portion a, having the upwardly-projecting tongues b, with ribs d extended from the bust into such tongues, the ribs e within the bust portion transverse to the ribs d, and the internal straps f, stretched vertically across the bust, the whole arranged and operated substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

BEN JAM [N VIAU.

W'itnesses:

H. J. MILLER, F. O. FISCHER. 

